Machine for pressing and drying strips of fabric and cutting them into lengths.



E. E. OTTO.

TRIPS 01 FABRIC AND CUTTING THEM APPLIGATION FILED PEB.11, 1910.

MACHINE POR PRESSING AND DRYING S INT0 LENGTHS. Patented Nov. 19, 1912.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

lllllllllllllllllllllll IA DIT" E. E. OTTO. MACHINE POR PRESSING ANDDRYING STRIPS OP FABRIC AND CUTTING THEM INTO LENGTHS. APPLICATION FILEDI'EB.11, 1910.

i Patented Nov. 19, 1912.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

5 l f l,

E. E. OTTO. MACHINE FOR PRESSING AND DRYING STRIPS 0F FABRIC AND CUTTINGTHEM INTO LBNGTHS APPLICATION FILED FEB. 11, 1910.

gQAgyg Patented Nov. 19, mi2.

E. E, OTTO. MACHINE POR PRESSING- AND DRYING STRIPS 0 F FABRIC ANDCUTTING THEM INTO LENGTHS. APPLICATION FILED PEB.11, 1910.

Patented Nov. 19, 1912.

5 SHEETS4SHEET 4.

E. E. OTTO.

MACHINE FOB PBESSING AND DRYING STRIPS 0F FABRIC AND CUTTING THEM INTOLENGTHS. APILIOATION FILED Uuml, 1910.

LQQSK Patented Nov. 19, 1912.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

I l l l l l l c I I MU l f l," I I i l" l l i I G I cnr aaien nn.

EMIL E. OTTO, OF CHICAGO, L'LNOS, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF TO ABRAHAMHERSKO'VITZ, OF CHECGO, ILLINOIS.

MACHINE FOR PRESSING AND DRYXNG STRIPS F FABRC AND CUTTING- THEM :INTOLENGTES.

Specication of Letters Eatent.

Patented Nov. is, 219i@ .application filed February il, 1910, Serial No.543,414.

o all whom it may concern.:

lle it known that l, Erni, E. 'rro, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful improvements in Machines for Pressingand Drying Strips of Fabric and Cutting them into Lengths, of which thefollowing is a specification.

There are many articles of manufacture made from pieces of material ofuniform length which are cut from a long strip, which, in someinstances, is dried and pressed before being cut all by one and the samemachine. Among these articles may be men tioned parts of garments andvarious articles of wearing apparel, garment supporters of variouskinds, incandescent mantles for gas burners, and many others made fromraw materials or fabrics of different kinds. The terni fabric as hereinused is intended to"compreliend a. sheet made from fibrous, plastic orany other material, by weaving, knitting, molding or any other processso .Y that the product Will be a thin sheet or web,

capable of being cut by a pair of relatively movable blades. rlhe socalled strips may be in the flat or they may be tubular, or they may beof round or other shape in cross section, and again, they may be' madein the first. instance in the form of strips or they may be reduced tothe form of strips by cutting a Wider sheet into suitable Widths.

My original aim was to provide a ma chine. for drying tubes, or tubularstrips, of

textile fabric and then cutting them into equal lengths for makingincandescent mantlcs for gas burners, and hence an embodinient of theinvention in a machine for this particular purpose has been selected indescribing and illustrating the invention for the purposes of thisapplication, but. with the nderstanding that l reserve to myself v theexclusive right to use the several novel end elevation thereof viewed inthe direction of the arrow 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view thereof.Fig. v is a vertical section thereof on the lines 1 -1t, Figs. 2 and 3,locking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 5 is a front elevation of amachine of modified Aconstruction embodying the invention, thisbeing-elected as the preferred form of the invention for the purposes ofthis application. Fig. 6 is an endelevation thereof viewed in thedirection of the arron7 6, Fig. 5 with portions of the face-plate brokenaway. Fig. 7 is a plan View thereof.

'lhe machine has a base plate, l, adapted to rest upon anysuitablesupport and it, in turn, supports the various other parts. lfromthe front and rear sides of the base plate, and near one end thereof,rise two posts, 2 and 3, which support or a'ord the Journal bearings forthe main shaft, il, to the rear end of which is secured a driving pulleyor gear Wheel, 5. Secured to the main shaft is a beveled gear wheel, 6,which meshes with a corresponding gear wheel, 7,

secured to a shaft, 8, arranged with its axis perpendicular to the axisof the main shaft, the main or driven feed roll, 9, being secured to theshaft, 8, at the outside of a. vertical face plate, 10, `which risesfrom the base plate. rthe shaft, 8, which may be termed the main feedshaft, is journaled in suitable bearings supported by posts, 11 and 12,rising from the base plate, and passes through an opening in the faceplate, the nature of the journal bearings for the main feed shaft andthe opening through the face plate through which it passes being suchthat the shaft is permitted to revolve freely but held against anyendwise or lateral movement. rThe upper feed roll, 13, is secured to ashaft, 14, which is journaled in bearings supported bv the post, 12, andpasses through a ver tically elongated opening through the face plate,10, which opening is indicated by dotted lines at 15 in Fig. 2. Thejournal bearings for the shaft, 14, are so constructed and supportedthat the shaft may have a limited amount of lateral movement, in orderthat the feed roll 13, may rise and fall relatively to the feed roll 9,for the purpose of accommodating fabrics of different thicknesses whichthey are used to feed forward, or in the direction of the arrows in Fig.2. At the inner side of the face plate intermeshing gear wheels, 16 and17, are secured to the shafts, 8 and 14, respectively, so that the feedrolls revolve at the same surface speed, resulting in a positive,uniform feeding of the fabric.

Secured to the main shaft is a cone gear, 18, which is adapted to drivea counter shaft, 19, through the medium of a gear wheel, 20, which issecured to the counter shaft by a spline and groove or other means whichwill connect them non-rotatively, but so as to permit the gear wheel tobe moved longitudinally upon the shaft, and an intervening idler, 21.The journals of the gear wheel 20 and idler, 21, are carried by a linkor yoke, 22, which is loosely mounted upon the counter shaft so as to becapable of swinging about the axis thereof, so that by shifting the linkor yoke upon the counter shaft the idler may be broughtinto engagementwith any one of the steps ort-toothed surfaces of the cone gear, in wellknown manner. By this means the relative Speeds of the main shaft andthe counter shaft, and consequently the parts which derive theirmovement from the counter. shaft may be regulated at will.

For the purpose of holding the idler in engagement with the cone gear asupporting baror plate, 23, is so arrangedthat a stud, 24, on the linkor yoke will come in contact with it and limit t-he movement of the axisof the idler toward the axis of the main rshaft, the shape orconfiguration of the engaging or working side of the supporting bar beinsuch that, it lwill engage the stud, with whichever one `of the steps ofthe cone gear the idler is, for the time being, in mesh.

v In order-to hold the idler inV engagement with the cone gear aswinging clamping plate or bar, 25, is so arranged that it may be movedinto or out of the engagement with the stud, 24, one or both of thembeing provided with a series of notches which correspond in relativeposit )ns with the relative positions of the several steps of theA conegear, a latch or locking device of any suitable construction beingprovided for holding t-he clamping plate when in use.

Secured to the counter shaft, 19, is a gear `wheel, 26, which mesheswith an idler, 27,

the journal of which is supported by a link or yoke, 28, said link oryokebeing mounted upon the counter shaft so as to be capable of beingmoved or swung about lthe axis thereof, for which purpose it is providedwith a handle, 29, a suitable lockingdevice, 30, being providedforholding the link or yoke in any position in which it may be set. Theidler, 27, meshes with a gear wheel, 31, which is removably secured to ashaft, 32, journaled in suitable bearings carried by the post, 11, saidgear wheel,31,being removable in order that a gear wheel of any desireddiameter may be secured to the shaft, 32, wherebythe relative speeds ofthe main shaft and the shaft, 32, and consequently of the parts whichderive their movement fro-m the shaft 32, may be varied at` will, inwell known manner. Secured to the shaft, 32, is an elliptical gearwheel, 33, which meshes with a corresponding elliptical gear wheel, 34,secured to a shaft, 35, journaled in bearings supported by the post, 12,and disposed with its axis perpendicular to t-he axes of the feed rollsand to the outer end of this shaft is secured a cutting blade, 36,arranged in operative relation to a fixed cutting blade, 37, in suchposition that its cutting edge and the bite of the feed rolls lie in thesame plane. Furthermore the cutting blade, 36, is so arranged that itscutting edge lies throughout and moves in a plane which is perpendicularto the shaft carrying it so that in its cutting operation it moves in aplane which is transverse to the fabric as it is being fed forward. Withthis arrangement itI will be seen that the rotation of the main shaftwill cause rotation of the feed rolls and that the rotary speed of thefeed rolls may be varied at will. At the same time the rotation of themain shaft will cause rotation of the shaft carrying the movable cuttingblade and that the relative ISpeeds of the main shaft and cutter shaftmay be regulated at will. The speed at which the feed rolls are drivendetermines the speed or capacity of the machineas represented by itsoutput, while the speed or number of operations of the movable cuttingblade determines the intervals at which the fabric is cut, or, in otherwords, the length of each severed piece. It will also be seen that byreason of the elliptical form of the gear Wheels, 33 and 34, themovement of the cutting blade will be accelerated as the elliptical gearwheels revolve duling each operation, the maximum speed being reachedwhen the major radius of the wheel, 33, is in engagement with the minorradius of the wheel, 34, and the parts are so related autres# fabricafter each length is cut oft and guided to and over the fixed cuttingblade.

r1`hus far 1 have described only the cutting mechanism and here I desireto have it understood that a machine having only this mechanism iswithin the scope of this part of my invention, but in addition to thiscutting mechanism the machine shown in the drawing has means for dryingand pressing the fabric and this mechanism is preferably used inconnection with the cutting mechanism in a machine for makingincandescent mantles. This drying and pressing mechanism consists of apair of rolls, 39 and 40, non-rotatively secured to shafts, 41 and 42,respectively, which shafts pass through openings in the face plate, 10,and are journaled in a post, 43, rising from the base plate. Theopening, 44, through which the shaft, 41, passes is elongatedvertically, as shown partly by dotted lines in Fig. 2 and its journalbearings are so constructed and supported that the roll, 39, is capableof a slight up and down movement relatively to the roll, 40, for thepurpose of accommodating fabrics of different thicknesses. The shafts,41 and 42, carry intermeshing gear wheels, 45 and 46, respectively, andthe gear wheel, 45, meshes with an idler, 47, which, in turn, mesheswith the gear wheel, 17, whereby the rolls, 39 and '40, are driven inthe directions indicated by the arrows. T he roll, 39, is heated in anysuitable manner. lt is preferably hollow and may be heated by a burner,48, arranged within the roll and supplied with gas through a pipe, 49.The fabric is guided to the bite of the rolls, 39 and 40, by guides, 50,of any desired construction, and upon leaving the bit-e of the rolls itscourse is directed by a shield, 51, secured to the face plate thence tothe bite of the feed rolls and thence to the cutting blades, all ofwhich are arranged in the order or sequence'named and each in proximityto the next in sequence.

t machine constructed as above described is practical and efficient, butfor reasons that are readily appreciated by skilled mechanics theconstruction hereinafter described and shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7, andwhich is the preferred form of t-he invention, has several advantageswhich will be hereinafter pointed out.

1n the machine shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7 the main shaft, 4, is journaledat one end in a bearing supported by a post or standard, 52, and at theother`\end in a post. or standard, 53, both of which rise from the baseplate, 1, and are parallel with the faceplate 10. lit carries the conegear, 18, from which movement is transmitted to the counter shaft, 190,through the medium of gear wheels, 2O and 21, which are constructed,arranged and have accessories similar to those already described. rliheupper feed roll, 130, is non-rotatively secured to the counter shaft,and thus becomes the driven feed roll, while the lower feed roll, 90,derives its movement from the driven feed roll by frictional contacttherewith or with the strip of material which intervenes between them..The counter shaft is incapable of any lateral movement, while theshaft, 140, of the lower feed roll is mounted in a floating journal box,53, so that the lower feed roll, 90, is capable of rising and fallingrelatively to the upper feed roll. This floating journal box, or otherbearing, may be of any desired construction. 1n the drawing it is shownas being constructed in two parts or halves secured together by boltsand mounted so as to be capable of sliding verticallyin guide waysresulting from a vertical groove, 54, in the face plate and a plate, 55,which is let into a counter sink in the face plate and secured theretoby bolts, 56, a coiled spring, 57, being arranged between the bottom ofthe box and the bottom of the groove. 54. r1`he upper roll, 390, ispositively driven from the counter shaft, 190, through the medium ofsuitable gearing. r1`his gearing may consist of a beveled gear wheel,57, carried by a shaft, 190, and meshing with a corresponding gearwheel, 58, carried by a shaft, 59, at one end thereof, the opposite endof which carries a beveled gear wheel, 60, meshing With a correspondinggear wheel, 61, secured to the shaft, 410, of the roll, 390, said shaftbeing mounted in bearings of such a nature that it is incapable of anylateral movement. r1`he lower roll, 400, derives its movement byfrictional contact withA the roll, 390, or with the intervening strip ofmaterial which they feed forward and its shaft, 420, is mounted in aoating bearing or journal box, 62, constructed, adapted to operate, andhaving accessories similar to the box, 53, already described.

r1`he elliptical gear wheel, 33, is secured directly to the main shaft,4, andthe elliptical gear wheel, 34, is secured to a shaft` 63, which isjournaled at one end in the standard, 52, and at the other end in theface plate. r1`he shaft, 63, carries a beveled gear wheel, 64, whichmeshes with a corresponding gearwheel, 65, no-n-rotatively secured to ashaft, 66, journaled in bearings carried by the face plate and to theforward end of this shaft the movable cutting blade, 36, isnonrotatively secured.

1n the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, themovable cut-ting blade derives its movement through the medium of thecounter shaft and the direction of rotation of the parts is such thatthe blade moves downward during the cutting interval, while in the formof the invention shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7 the blade derives itsmovement from the main shaft, independently of the counter shaft, andthe direction of rotation of the several parts is such that the blademoves upward during the cutting interval. In order to meet this lattercondition the fixed or ledger blade, 370, is located above the bite ofthe feed rolls and with its cutting edge presented downward. Anadvantage of this arrangement is that the cutting operation will serveto slightly lift the severed end of the strip of material and permit itto fall back on to the upper end of an inclined chute or guide way, 67,which is preferably provided with a scale, graduated in inches, andfractions thereof, to indicate the length'of the pieces into which thestrip is cut. This chute also serves to hold the strip of material inproper position to permit the blade to unerringly come in contact withits under side during the cutting operation. It is supported by a faceplate, preferably through the medium of a shield, 68, which completelycovers and inclos-es the blade so as to prevent the attendant from beinginjured thereby.

It is the intention to so construct the ma'- chine that a plurality ofstrips may be cut at one and the same time, and in order that each stripmay be positively gripped between the feed rolls, each of the drivenrolls ismade up of a plurality of separate sections mounted upon theirrespective shafts so as to be capable of a slight lateral movementrelatively to said shafts and consequently relatively to each other.This may be done by making any suitable provision for the slight lostmotion or play between the shafts and the feed roll sections.

The term pressing roll as used in this specification is intended tocomprehend a roll of the class that is used for ultimately smoothing outthe Wrinkles of fabrics or the like that have been subjected to a bathof some sort, after the manner in which sadirons are used for ironing orsmoothing the wrinkles out of garments, or, in other words, pressingthem.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A machine of the class described, having, in combination, a.pair offeed rolls, means-for revolving them, a pair of cutting blades, a shafton which one ofsaid blades is mounted and arranged so that its cuttingedge lies and moves in a plane transverse to the axis of` said shaft,said axis being transverse to the axes of the feed rolls, and means forimparting rotary movement to the shaft and accelerating said movementwhen the blade-reaches its cutting position.

2. A machine of the class described, having, in combination, a pair offeed rolls, means for revolving them, a pair of cutting blades, a shaftto which one of said blades is secured so that its cutting edge lies andmoves in a plane transverse to the axis of the shaft, said axis beingtransverse to the axes of the feed rolls, and means for revolving saidshaft continuously, said means including a pair of intermeshingelliptical gear. wheels by which the movement of the cutting blade isaccelerated vas the blade reaches its cuttin osition.

3. A machine o t e class described having, in combination, a shaft, anelliptical gear wheel carried by said shaft, a second elliptical gearwheel meshing therewith, a shaft to which the second elliptical gearwheel is secured, a beveled gear wheel secured to said shaft, a secondbeveled gear wheel meshing therewith, a shaft to which it is secured, apair of cutting blades one of which is secured to the shaftlastaforesaid Aso that its cut-ting edge lies and moves in a plane whichis transverse to the axis of the shaft, a pair of feed rolls arrangedwith their axes transverse to the axis of the shaft carrying the cuttingblade, aforesaid, and means for revolving the feed rolls and the shaftcarrying -the elliptical gear wheel first aforesaid.

4. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a pair offeed rolls, a pair of cutting blades one of which is fixed and has itscutting edge presented downward while the other is movable and has itscutting edge presented upward,` a shaft carrying the movable cuttingblade, and arranged with its axis transverse to the axes of the feedrolls, said movable blade being so arranged that its cut-ting edge liesand l `movab e blade upward during the cutting interval, and means forrevolving the feed rolls.

5. A vmachine of the class described having, in combination, a pair offeed rolls, a chute on to` which the fabric passes after leaving thefeed rolls, a pair of cutting blades one of which is fixed and has itscutting edge presented downward and the other of which has its cuttingedge presented up- Ward, a shaft carrying the cutting blade lastaforesaid, means for revolving said shaft in a direction that carriesthe movable blade upward during the cutting interval, and means forrevolving the feed rolls.

6. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a shaft, apair of elliptical gear wheels one of which is secured to said shaft, apair of intermeshing beveled gear wheels one of which is secured to theAshaft of the second elliptical gear wheel, a

noaaeer v shaft and gearing for transmitting movement from the cone gearto the aforesaid shaft carrying the feed roll.

7. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a pair offeed rolls, a pair of cutting blades one of which is movable, a shaftcarrying the movable blade, a main shaft, means for transmittingmovement from the main shaft to the shaft carrying the movable blade andaccelerating said movement when said blade reaches its cutting position,and mechanism for transmitting movement from the main shaft to the feedrolls, said transmitting mechanism being variable for the purpose ofaltering the speed of the feed rolls relatively to the speed of theshaft carrying the movable blade.

8. A machine of the class described, having, in combination, a pair offeed rolls, means for revolving them, a pair of cutting blades arrangedin operative relation tothe feed rolls, a shaft carrying one of saidblades and arranged with its aXls transverse to the axes of the feedrolls, said movable blade extending transversely across the stripto becut, a pair of drying and pressing rolls arranged in proximity to thefeed rolls and with their axes parallel therewith, means for revolvingthe feed rolls and the drying and pressing rolls and means for heatingat least one of the drying rolls.

9. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a pair offeed rolls, means for revolving them, a pair of cutting blades arrangedin operative relation to the feed rolls, one of said blades beingmovable, means for operating the movable blade, a pair of pressing rollslocated in proximity to the feed rolls, 'means for revolving them, meansfor guiding the strip of material to the pressing rolls, a shield fordirecting the course of said strip upon leaving the pressing rolls, atable for supporting the strip upon leaving the feed rolls and a chuteonto which the strip is delivered upon leaving the feed rolls. p

Ell/HL E. TTU. Witnesses:

ANDREW G. HOUSTON, Manni. E. Maman.

